Seven children are shown amidst toys, games and books. Two girls play ayatori / "string pulling" or cat's cradle, while a young lad looks at pictures of samurai / "warriors." An inu haiku / papier mache dog is at right, next to a fan, drum and...

Dressed in fine French fashions, these two ladies and young girl seem to be ready for a stroll in the garden beyond or a visit to the newly modernized shopping area of the Ginza. On the table is a European teapot with matching cup and saucer, In...

As three bats / komori circle in the evening sky, two boys try to touch them with bamboo sticks while their mother and baby brother look on. Bats have long been a symbol of good luck in Northeast Asia because the words in Chinese for "bat" and for...

Two girls and their mother are enjoying books. One daughter is kneeling before an open illustrated volume, holding a pointer to help her read. Her sister, standing behind, holds another thread bound book, similar in color to the cover of the one...

A Meiji government official dressed in his Western style military uniform receives his cockaded hat from one female attendant while another holds his European style sword. The group stands in a Western style building, probably the home of this...

Two children are conversing while folding origami cranes. They sit within a house, before a sliding door, overlooking a garden. To their left is a bamboo trellis and a large ornamental jar, and behind them a cluster of peonies is growing. A women...

A grand summer festival with a parade of palanquins and floats was staged on the 15th day of the 6th month to celebrate the Mountain Deity (Sanno) of Hie Shrine who had protected Edo Castle since 1478. Ota Dokan (1432-86), the military governor of...

While Japan has many national and regional celebrations, five festivals / gosseku were given particular importance. Chikanobu presents them from right to left: the New Year Festival / Oshogatsu when special gifts are offered on footed trays of...

In the autumn fashionable geisha would dress in their lover's garments to visit the neighborhood shrine and participate in Niwaka kyogen, impromptu skits about life in the brothels. Dressed like an elegant young man, a young lady glances up at a...

women; men (male humans); children (people by age group); parasols; Built complexes and districts; costume; hats; sandals

From one of the gate towers of Edo Castle, the shogun and his advisers observe the testing of munitions in nearby Edo Bay. The circular inset shows the launch tower for the explosives, with a paper lantern bearing the inscription "Official Use" /...

On an autumn outing, this boy holds tightly to his balloon string and his mother's fingers. He looks straight out at the viewer, and his smiling face suggests he could be a real handful. His mother has a firm grip on him, though, as she enjoys the...

women; children (people by age group); kimonos; candles; candleholders; fusuma

During the Setsubun / "Change of Season" festival held at the end of winter by the lunar calendar, mame-maki / "bean throwing" is accompanied by shouts of "Fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto" / "Good fortune in, demons out!" The beans are usually thrown out...

In the 10th month, from the 9th to 11th, the Kompira Festival is held at the Kotohiragu Shrine dedicated to the guardian deities of mariners, and later on the 19th day special celebrations in Nihonbashi are held for Ebisu, one of the Seven Gods of...

Meiji period color woodblock print depicting a large head portrait of a young bijin wearing a kimono decorated with colorful calligraphy.
The series, "Mirror of the Ages" presents a group of fifty-three bust portraits of beauties from the Kenmu...

Meiji period color woodblock print depicting the head of a young bijin wearing a kimono decorated with wisteria and holding a closed fan. The upper part of the print pictures a festival with an elephant float. Kansei no Koro.
The series, "Mirror...